Now that my Make Art That Sells class is over, I wanted to share my final project. Week #5’s focus was the Gift Market. Our assignment was to create “lush” artwork that could be printed on a zippered pouch. Something that you might find in a gift shop and buy for a friend.
All class long I wanted to use some of my felt stitched artwork for one of the assignments. For one reason or another I just couldn’t make it fit the assignment of the week…until this one! I scanned in the background, which was the hills and tree that I has created for another purpose in the past. Then the other elements each came from projects I had stitched over the years, a floral wreath, a birdhouse, the birdies and even that squirrel. I photographed them then brought them into Photoshop and placed them onto the background. It was so liberating to be able to move and scale the elements, rather than having them stitched into place. I had so much fun with this piece, it was my favorite project of the whole class.
We were asked to mock up our art onto a zippered pouch and make a presentation with other items. I bought in my Springtime Sewing Kit and some knitting needles to complete the layout.
Aside from Lilla Rogers herself, the famous artist agent and teacher of the class, my classmates were super supportive. We “met” each other in the closed Facebook Group set up specifically for participants. It was great to be able to post our work in progress and get feedback during the week before our assignments were due.
The reason I took the class was to decide if being a licensed artist is for me or not. I still don’t know the answer to the questions but it’s something that I’m still investigating. I’d love to do some things for the gift market.
If you missed my earlier posts, you can read about about Week #1&2 and Week #3&4 and see my projects.
Lovely <3
It was so great to be in class with you Betz! Your piece is so awesome and you rock at making these things! (Y)
What are the cons of being a licensed artist these days?
Well, if you want to look at the down side: constant hustle, frequent rejection, stiff competition in a saturated market, low royalties..should I go on? 🙂
Loving this! Beautiful design.
I do wonder how people feel that make a living from their creativity. How tough is it? Do you lose a bit of that spark or joy? Or is it wonderful to share a piece of yourself with the world?
Hi Deb,
I think one has to develop a thick skin, be true to themselves and as Lilla says, “people buy your joy”, so one must stay joyful! I think it’s true that when one is creating joyfully it shines through. Which isn’t to say that it isn’t sometimes a struggle.
Hi Betz – This is awesome. Love it!
Sounds like that class was very helpful. There are no easy answers though it sounds like.
XO
Kristin
Nope! There never is! Just keep creating because what else is there? 🙂
Your work looks good to me. I was wondering if you would share your teachers remarks about your work. What did they like/dislike?
Thank you. The teacher did weekly reviews of a handful of pieces (there were well over 100 people taking the class). The reviews highlighted an aspect (such as color palette, layout, composition, balance, etc) that would be helpful to anyone taking the class, not just the person being reviewed. I received one review during week one that complimented my print layout with a suggestion to change the ground color.